Unsane - Sterilize (Southern Lord) 2017
8
Perhaps because NY has never been short of legends, it’s all too easy to overlook Unsane’s achievements over the past 30 years, but thankfully they are still putting out albums like Sterilize to remind us. From the sickening groove of “Factory,” Dave Curran’s bass rattle as relentless as the L train steamrolling across a jumper’s neck through to the steady prowl of “Avail”, this is as close to a ‘classic’ Unsane sound as you’re ever going to get from them. It’s infectious yet visceral, a collection of riffs spattered with rust and gore underpinned by Chris Spencer’s desperately muffled howls and skewed shrieks of guitar, and just as with the band’s best, it’s made all the more attractive by its unpalatable nature.